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WORK TITLE: The Oslo Conspiracy
WORK NOTES: trans by Paul Norlen
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 8/11/1972
WEBSITE:
CITY: Oslo
STATE:
COUNTRY: Norway
NATIONALITY: Norwegian
http://us.macmillan.com/author/asleskredderberget/ * http://newlitfromeurope.org/speakers/asle-skredderberget/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born August 11, 1972; married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Norwegian School of Economics, master’s degree; Universitá Bocconi, master’s degree.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Journalist, writer. Has worked as a business reporter and as a communications specialist for a global chemical corporation.
WRITINGS
Author of “Milo Cavalli” crime series, in Norwegian.
SIDELIGHTS
Norwegian nonfiction and crime-novel writer Asle Skredderberget is author of the “Milo Cavalli” crime series. He has been a business reporter for television and newspapers and was vice president of corporate communications at one of the world’s leading chemical companies working on projects around the world. He holds master’s degrees in business and finance from the Norwegian School of Economics, in Bergen, and Bocconi University of Milan, Italy.
In 2016, Skredderberget’s thriller The Oslo Conspiracy was translated into English by Paul Norlen. The story introduces wealthy and handsome half-Norwegian, half-Italian detective Milo Cavalli, who works for the Financial Crimes Unit. He is rich because he left a lucrative job in finance so that he could give back to his community as a police officer. Cavalli is investigating the strangulation murder of Ingrid Tollefsen, a pharmaceutical company scientist, in her hotel room in Rome. Cavalli has knowledge of Italian red tape, so he is assigned to the case. Tollefsen left behind a paper with some cryptic words written on it about her killer. As Cavalli searches for clues and researches Tollefsen’s background, he learns that two years ago, her fifteen-year-old brother was murdered at his school by gangsters who also killed a teacher. Cavalli traces clues from Rome to Oslo to New York.
Woven into the plot are discussions of black-market steroids, abused illegal immigrants, and pharmaceutical corporations that put profit above patient safety. Cavalli also learns that he has a half sister he never knew existed. “It’s all part of a very complex story that, surprisingly, wraps up pretty abruptly, but not necessarily in a satisfying conclusion,” according to Christine Zibas on the Reviewing the Evidence Web site. At All Books Considered, a reviewer complained that there were so many “elements and outrageous connections between several different people and crimes that I not only had a hard time keeping track but I was unable to suspend my disbelief.”
Book reviewers commented on how Scandinavian writers like to take their time, such as in Skredderberget’s recounting long passages of Cavalli looking for clues, a long dinner between Cavalli and his father, and Cavalli flirting with women. Don Crinklaw noted in Booklist, “Readers willing to indulge family matters … will find a ripping mystery.” Calling the book uneven, a writer in Publishers Weekly commented: “Milo’s antics won’t be to every taste, nor will the plot contrivances.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2016, Don Crinklaw, review of The Oslo Conspiracy, p. 27.
Publishers Weekly, August 22, 2016, review of The Oslo Conspiracy, p. 89.
ONLINE
All Books Considered, http://booksconsidered.blogspot.my/ (October 25, 2016), review of The Oslo Conspiracy.
New Literature from Europe Festival Web site, http://newlitfromeurope.org/ (June 1, 2017) author profile.
Reviewing the Evidence, http://reviewingtheevidence.com/ (December 1, 2016), Christine Zibas, review of The Oslo Conspiracy.
Asle Skredderberget
Royal Norwegian Consulate General
Asle Skredderberget is the author of the Milo Cavalli crime series, as well as being a non-fiction and television writer. His thriller The Oslo Conspiracy was published in the US by St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books in October 2016 and the sequel is planned for release in 2017. His debut novel was shortlisted for the prestigious Riverton prize in Norway as best crime novel of the year. Skredderberget has worked as a business reporter for television and newspapers and also as a communications specialist for several international companies. He holds a Masters degree in Business and Economics from Norway and from the Bocconi University of Milan, Italy. He lives in Oslo, Norway.
ASLE SKREDDERBERGET holds a Masters degree in Business and Finance from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen and the prestigious Universitá Bocconi in Milan. For several years he held a position as Vice President Corporate Communications in one of the world´s leading chemical companies, working on projects in Europe, the US, Asia, Latin-America, and Africa. He lives in Oslo, with his wife and two kids.
The Oslo Conspiracy
Don Crinklaw
113.2 (Sept. 15, 2016): p27.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
The Oslo Conspiracy. By Asle Skredderberget. Tr. by Paul Norlen. Oct. 2016.368p. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $25.99 (9781250049612); e book, $12.99 (9781466850583).
Mystery fans will be in seventh heaven as this narrative begins. A young woman is murdered, after she struggles to leave a coded message about her death. Then a glorious sequence, 10 pages long, describes detective Milo Cavalli examining the scene. He observes a fresh scratch on the wall, like an arrow, and lets it direct him to the smeared message. Afterward, we join Cavalli as he goes to his father's for dinner and discovers he has a half-sister he didn't know about. Lengthy dinner, too. Well, this is a Scandinavian mystery, and they take their time up there. Readers willing to indulge family matters, as well as Cavalli's flirtations with gorgeous women, will find a ripping mystery. The dead girl was a researcher for a huge drug company and was exhorting her bosses about the damage their greed was doing. Cavalli's investigation leads him to seismic confrontations with pharma execs that are so exciting to read they almost overpower the crime story. Patience will pay off here.--Don Crinklaw
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Crinklaw, Don. "The Oslo Conspiracy." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2016, p. 27. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464980839&it=r&asid=6f72d7c78595a5eb3f3b8556dcb7b537. Accessed 9 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464980839
The Oslo Conspiracy
263.34 (Aug. 22, 2016): p89.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
The Oslo Conspiracy
Asle Skredderberget, trans. from the Norwegian by Paul Norlen. St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-250-04961-2
Norwegian author Skredderberget's uneven U.S. debut, a series launch, introduces Milo Cavalli, an extremely wealthy Norwegian cop assigned to the Financial Crimes Unit. Because Milo is Italian on his father's side, his superiors dispatch him to Rome to help investigate a Norwegian citizen's murder. Ingrid Tollefsen, a researcher who worked at the Oslo office of an American pharmaceutical company, was found strangled in her hotel room in Italy, but with no other signs of violence. Milo is surprised to learn that two years earlier the victim's 15-year-old brother was executed near his school in Norway by gangsters who also gunned down a teacher. Meanwhile, Milo's personal life resembles a soap opera as he deals with tension with his significant other, romantic temptations, and dramatic revelations about his family.' Milo's antics won't be to every taste, nor will the plot contrivances. For example, the cop who assists Milo in Italy lost a parent in a naval catastrophe that also affected Milo's family. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Oslo Conspiracy." Publishers Weekly, 22 Aug. 2016, p. 89+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA461609289&it=r&asid=5b8d90dbadf75d795ebc4ed602dd2dbc. Accessed 9 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A461609289
THE OSLO CONSPIRACY
by Asle Skredderberget and Paul Norlen, trans.
Thomas Dunne Books, January 2016
368 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 125004961X
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When rich, handsome Milo Cavalli is called upon to use his Italian connection (he's half-Norwegian, half-Italian) to help bring the body of a murdered Norwegian scientist home to her family in Oslo, there only seem to be more questions than answers. Most important on both Italian and Norwegian authorities' minds is who committed this crime and why? For Norwegians, there's also the issue of her brother's death, a murder than happened years ago. Could the two incidents be connected?
Asle Skredderberget adds plenty more mysterious storylines to these two central murders. There's the question of Milo's half-sister, only recently was revealed to him by his father. There's a mysterious woman in New York who has died and left an inheritance to Milo and his cousin. There's even an Italian naval vessel that was sunk years ago, but somehow echoes throughout the storyline and is part of Milo's history.
Add to these, storylines about the black market in steroids, abused illegal immigrants, and giant pharmaceutical multinationals that don't play fair. Had enough? Wait, there's Milo's very complicated romantic life, his dialogue with the local priest in a confessional, and his relationship to his Financial Crimes partner, Sorenson. It's all part of a very complex story that, surprisingly, wraps up pretty abruptly, but not necessarily in a satisfying conclusion.
Then there is the situation in which Milo has made his fortune as a financial analyst, as well as coming from family money. This allows him to make decisions and take actions that other detectives wouldn't be afforded in real life, like flying business class on last minute notice to help get answers to the case or replacing one damaged car for another even more luxurious after having a confrontation with one group of bad guys.
On the plus side, the book is easy enough to read, and Milo is a likeable character with a good heart. While some have suggested he's a James Bond-like character for the new millenium, he doesn't really have the suave swagger or sophisticated tech tools of Bond; he does, however, appear to have the ladies' attention.
THE OSLO CONSPIRACY is an entertaining read, but there's not much to keep readers anchored to or invested in what happens next to Milo.
§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, December 2016
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Review: The Oslo Conspiracy by Asle Skredderberget, Translated by Paul Norlén
The Oslo Conspiracy by Asle Skredderberget, Translated by Paul Norlén
Blurb from NG:
The main character in Asle Skredderberget´s crime novels is Milo Cavalli. Half Norwegian and half Italian, he is definitely not your typical depressed Nordic noir investigator. In fact he´s quite the opposite. Milo is successful and attractive AND extremely rich. He goes to confession. He worries about his friends and family. And he taps into his family fortune whenever he needs to in order to crack the case he's working on.
In The Oslo Conspiracy, a scientist is found dead in a hotel room in Rome. Before she is strangled, she manages to scribble a few words on a piece of paper.
Milo Cavalli is sent to help out with the investigation in Italy, since he is familiar with Italian red tape. Milo finds the note from the scientist, and he also learns that earlier her kid brother had been executed by gang members in a schoolyard.
Milo becomes obsessed with finding out if there is a link between the two killings--the sister strangled in Italy and the brother shot in Norway. And he is willing to use his vast fortune and special connections—especially when those connections involve beautiful women-- to find the answers.
A new twist in thrillers, The Oslo Conspiracy is certain to captivate readers who like their heroes rich, handsome, caring, and very, very sexy.
My Review:
This is the English debut of what I gather to be a popular Norwegian crime thriller/mystery series starring the dashing Milo Cavalli. Milo Cavalli is a half-Italian/half-Norwegian financial crimes detective in Oslo who has left a successful career behind in the financial sector (although he is still plenty wealthy as he continually tells us) to give back to the community in the form of being a policeman. And while I didn't mind Milo and his rather sleazy yet self-righteous and entitled attitude, I was bored with this 'thriller'. There were so elements and outrageous connections between several different people and crimes that I not only had a hard time keeping track but I was unable to suspend my disbelief to find this to be a viable or worthy story. I don't think I will read more books in this series, assuming they will also be translated, because the thriller aspect was missing for me. It was really more of a police procedural, to be sure, but I can't even tell you that that part of the book was done well. The setting was okay -- from Rome to Oslo to New York -- but not enough to make me excited to read more.
The Oslo Conspiracy comes out today on October 25, 2016, and you can purchase HERE.
Not much of what his father had said to him while he was growing up had stuck, but one of his sayings had.
"It's not about finding the right one, Emil. This time also has to be right. The right person, at the right time. It's not easy, damn it. Most people end up with the wrong person at the right time. Others find the right person, but the time is never right," Endre Thorkildsen had told his son.